Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

The Flash Drive

He stares at the door, sweat pouring from his brow, his bottom lip quivering nervously. He rubs his eyes with his free hand as Abby’s barking sends his ears into a spiral, while Gareth’s voice screams at him from the other end of the phone.

“Marty, for Christ’s sake? MARTY? Are you hearing me, man? I need to know you’re with me!”

Silence is the only answer he receives, until finally, just as he feels the presence of something behind him, he responds.

“I’m here,” Marty says softly.

Gareth lets out a long, exhausted breath. “FUCK, never do that again, I thought…”

“So did I,” Marty says as he falls back into his seat. Abby turns and looks at him, tilting her head to the side. “It’s okay, girl. On your BED!” he says.

Abby shifts her head to the other side, blinks several times, wags her tail, then slowly makes her way over to her bed. Marty leans over and gently pats her on the head before turning his attention back to the phone.

“How long’ve we got?”

“The first story was posted fifteen minutes ago, so we’ve got about fifty or so before it’ll make its move. How many times is this now?”

“I lost count after thirty-five. I just don’t know how we can make this work. Every time, it just keeps forcing us back here.”

“You said whoever controls the story controls the world, and you control the story, so you control how this all ends,” Gareth says.

“It’s not as easy as that, and you know it.”

“That’s not what you said. You said you knew a way out of this!”

“The drive is the key. I just need to use it the right way,” he says as he pulls a red flash drive from his pocket and begins to feel the all-too-familiar pull of the past.

---

Two Weeks Ago

“So, I know this is going to sound like a stupid question, but why do you want it?” Stuart asks, looking up from his computer.

“If I wanted you to know the reason, I would’ve already told you,” Marty smiles as he nervously chews on his fingernails.

“That’s why I said it was going to sound like a stupid question,” Stuart replies with a smile as he pulls a red flash drive from the computer and hands it to Marty. “For what it’s worth, I don’t care what you want it for. But a word of warning—make sure you’re online when you plug it in. Otherwise, it’ll just fry your computer and nothing else.”

“Make sure it’s online, right,” Marty looks down at the drive and grips it tightly in his hand before looking up at Stuart. “I need to ask one last favour. On Tuesday, when the story starts, I don’t want you to read it or share it, no matter what happens. No matter how many people tell you about it, or how many of your friends share it on your wall, I want you to leave it alone.”

“Sure, but can you at least tell me why?”

“When everything starts happening—and it will—watch this. It’ll tell you everything,” Marty says, handing Stuart a green flash drive.